christmas tree decorating secrets

Last night was time for some gorgeous Christmas tree inspiration. I teamed up with a group of incredibly talented ladies and shared a really fun CHRISTMAS TREE HOP on instagram!

We all shared photos of our newly decorated Christmas trees along with our best tips for holiday tree décor. The tip that I shared was to stick to one color theme and decorate with the things I love.

This year my tree is done in muted tones with some of my favorite vintage and heirloom ornaments. My favorite new ornaments are the little houses that light up.

In addition to the delicate glass ornaments that I love so dearly, there was a little theme of cute cottages and winter birds on the tree. See if you can spot a few… 

It’s not too late to check out all 12 trees that were featured last night on the Christmas Tree Hop. Stop by Instagram for a peek and link to the other talented bloggers.

ciao! fabiana

oh, Christmas tree

Happy Saturday, everyone. The holiday season is really gearing up now! Christmas is a hop, skip and a jump away, and I’ve got quite a list of things to do today... how about you? 

So before my day gets started, I’m popping in to sharing a few better pics of my little Christmas tree in the front entry. It’s certainly not a glamorous tree. It’s not symmetrical or perfectly done up, but that’s the way I wanted it, simple. 

It's just like the wreaths on our front doors, simple. We have double doors, so I always like to get a pair of matching wreaths. These lush evergreen wreaths are from our local Armstrong’s Garden Center. I then added a trio of  antique-looking bells on each wreath. 

I love the way they softly clang upon our arrival and departure. I originally saw similar bells at McGee & Co., but they sold out immediately. I knew the look I was after for this year’s doors, so luckily Amazon had just about the same exact ones!   

The little foyer tree is from Urban Gardner, and I set it in one of my vintage French champagne buckets. Each ornament on the tree is meaningful. Some are old favorites that we acquired from our parents, grandparents, and friends, and some were found at thrift shops or estate sales. I really love the ones that say "Merry Christmas".

The branches of this tiny tree are just right for holding each precious glass ornament, and a few extras are on hand for a last minute addition to the tree. I found this quaint old bowl through Heather Bullard's Trouvé shop. 

The patina on some of these ornaments is so endearing. 

This one’s not that old, but he’s kinda cute. 

Last night we went to our second holiday party of the season at our friend Jennifer’s loft in Costa Mesa, and I was so inspired! She’s got the most amazing style and displays her Christmas collections so creatively in her home. I’m thinking, we’ve got to share her home her on the blog.... working on it!

After a night out, it was so nice to be greeted at the door by this sweet little tree, and our three silly dogs. I'm off to get started on a few things now, and will hopefully check everything off my list today!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I'll share a few Christmas tables I set with red and white transferware and lots of fun holiday pieces and accessories. 

💖

ciao! fabiana

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our new Christmas tree

We’re absolutely loving our new Christmas tree by King of Christmas. It looks so realistic and beautiful that it's fooled everyone who's visited so far. This isn’t the first artificial tree we’ve had, but it’s by far the best! An added bonus is it came set-up with 900 LED lights, so there’s no need to add any extra lights, like we have with other trees. 

The seven and a half foot tree fits perfectly in our living room which has 9 foot ceilings. The room is small, and the tree's slender proportions are ideal in this space. It looks so pretty "naked", without any ornaments on it and we enjoyed it that way throughout the long Thanksgiving weekend.  

In keeping with our “white Christmas” theme, I chose some of our favorite silver, gold and white ornaments from our family’s collection. I have a soft spot in my heart for all the vintage ornaments we’ve acquired over the years from parents and grandparents. 

It’s so nice to incorporate those with a few new ones (above) I found at Pottery Barn and West Elm. Aren't the little white houses precious? They even come with their own white bottle brush trees in the front. They're cardboard and light-up with the flick of a switch on the bottom. 

Sitting in the dining room now has it's perks. 

The tree topper we had was very ordinary, and I couldn’t find one that spoke to me, until I looked on ebay. There I spotted the same pretty paper ornament that my family had when I was a young girl. Oh, the memories came flooding back! 

The same vintage tree topper with the cherubic angel and the spun glass detail was available on ebay! Gold wings, and pearly white clouds, perfect! Done and bought! And the best news is, it arrived today, and I love it just as much now as I did back then!  

ciao! fabiana

christmas with antique farm house

 

🎄Welcome to the English Cottage Christmas event

 with Antique Farmhouse! 

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at my home, and with the help of Antique Farm House. I’ve created a very nostalgic and comfy look for my family. 

This is the perfect time to bring those same vintage, cozy vibes into your own home this holiday season.

Let’s create the most memorable Christmas together!

 

There are so many festive pieces featured in this English Cottage Christmas event, that I couldn’t fit them all in my reel.

There’s nothing quite like the wonder of Christmas morning. All the anticipation, excitement and joy! All the feelings you’ve had of Christmases past come rushing back!

 

Sentimental at times, but there is a sense of hope as well.

Nothing can match the sight of your glowing tree at sunrise, the smell of bacon emanating from the kitchen, tiny footsteps coming down the stairs, and the gasps and giggles heard at the sight of all the gifts under the tree…

 

all those dear early morning Christmas memories truly live in my heart!

🎄The inspiration for my tree was the beauty of nature done in a fanciful way. I imagined an enchanted forest where Father Christmas lives in a charming little stone cottage, definitely another time and place! 

I started with a new 6’ Noble fir from King of Christmas and added my own white lights. Owls, nesting birds, deer, little red toadstools, and lots of little pinecones. 

Of course, we have to bring in the sparkle with lots of vintage glass ornaments and baubles! This little tree is finished off with just a touch of old-fashioned tinsel for all the nostalgic reasons I can think of!

What a difference a month makes! Here’s our antique hutch all decked out for Christmas. 

Here’s my festive hot cocoa bar! This look is as simple as setting out some cute mugs, a cozy plaid throw and a fun little electric kettle! 

Add some instant hot chocolate mix, a few marshmallows and maybe a candy cane or two! No need to fuss. Keep it simple, my friends!

 

Here's a fun little plaid table that has all the vibrant holiday colors and textures I love!

So, friends, I’ll see you in my stories soon, where I’ll give you some up close and personal looks at some of my favorite items, and I’ll also be sharing a BONUS tablescape using so many ofthese same Antique Farmhouse pieces set up in a whole new way!

Happy Christmas! ♥️

ciao fabiana

 

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You can check out some of my favorites here at “Tablescaping Essentials”  

 

 

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more tablescapes & weekend happenings

I’m so looking forward to spending time with family for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I always want everything just right. Planning ahead is the best way for me to stay organized and stress-free, but if things don’t go exactly according to plan, that’s ok too. We always can try plan B, or C.

That’s why I really enjoy planning my holiday tablescapes way ahead of time. I like to set up different options, and then taking certain elements that I like and combining them to create the final table setting.

I came up with a few more options this weekend. Just playing around with a different selection of plates, glasses and napkins…

I really love these Baroque Wood Chargers that are from World Market. They really ground each place setting nicely and adds great contrast between the china and the table. These red stripe linen napkins are also a favorite of mine.

My black and white bistro chairs look nice with this setting too!

These darling black and white transferware Christmas plates are so sweet and remind me of the very snowy Christmases I spent growing up in Upstate New York.

Here’s a more glamorous option with fancy gold writing! I love this look too! By the way, all the greens you see on the table were foraged from a couple of my neighbors who don’t mind me taking a clipping or two! Especially from the huge eucalyptus down the street.

Did you happen to see a few of the tablescapes I set up last week? I also posted them on intagram. 
The ugly sweater party idea has been 
quite popular on pinterest too! 

LOL.

My family and I also had a pie tasting day to see what our favorite choices would be for Thanksgiving. Marie Callender's is our favorite go-to pie shop, and we usually get a couple of pies for Thanksgiving. This year’s winners  of the pie tasting contest were Pumpkin (of course) and Dutch Apple.

Marie Callender's has so many choices, and they're all amazing! A few of the other pies we tried were rhubarb (we were all quite curious about this one and were pleasantly surprised at how good the sweet and tart combination was) and blueberry (my youngest son's choice). Sorry  to say Pecan Pie was not one of the contenders this year, but it's always one of my faves.

It’s November, so pie for breakfast is one of our favorite things to look forward to in the morning! 

(btw, you can find the Give Thanks tea towels here.)

On Saturday, a big box arrived at the door from Oriental Trading, full of beautiful (and sparkly) Christmas goodies that I ordered! I can’t wait to integrate them into my holiday décor.

We're talking about copper lanterns and rose gold votives for starters. They'll look great with all the white, cream, green and metallic décor I have in mind for this year. And look! They have really cute sisal bottle brush trees too! In fact, after I saw how pretty these tall ones were, I ordered a few more sets to sprinkle around the house.   

I have about a week and a half until we break out our Christmas tree. It's usually a Black Friday tradition at our house to stay home and decorate the tree and eat yummy turkey leftovers! Here's our tree last year with just the twinkly lights on, pre-trimming. 

When do you put up your Christmas tree?

And if you're looking to start some Christmas shopping,
we're having a Pre-Black Friday sale right now on the Blog Shop.

We've got lots of fun Hostess Gift ideas and more!

20% off everything!

ciao! fabiana